photo by rephotography

I mentioned in an earlier post, and many of you may be aware of, PETA’s settlement with KFC Canada to, not only sell a meatless “chicken” option, but also to adhere to more humane methods of killing. KFC Canada has agreed to purchase chickens solely from suppliers that administer gas-based controlled-atmosphere killing, or CAK. The standard practice of killing chickens is to dip their heads in a pool of electrified water. This method often times leaves the birds paralyzed but conscious at the time of entering the throat slitting. Some birds even manage to avoid the throat cutting by wriggling around and are ultimately burned alive in scalding water tanks. The CAK method is thought to be the most humane method of killing because it involves little pain, while guaranteeing that the birds are dead before the slaughter and processing. Though I must admit, putting animals in a gas-chamber makes me think holocaust and genocide and it puts very frightening images in my head.

Ideally, no animals would be slaughtered for human consumption. Realistically, we have a long way to go before we reach that milestone. So, along the way, can we at lease make sure the animals that do die feel as little pain as possible? Those who object make a valid point in saying no method of killing animals is humane. And I do agree that it is important to continue to promote meat-free diets and bring the demand for meat down so less animals are slaughtered. But between now and the one beautiful day in the future when the general population realizes how wrong it is to eat meat, we must look out for the well-being of the animals destined for slaughter.

Obviously this is a pretty heated moral debate and I’d love to hear your thoughts. How do you feel about controlled-atmosphere killing? Is this progress or a compromise of ethics?